Improvement in washing-machines



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIGE.

OHARLESM. BARTHOLOMEW, OF LOWELL, WISCONSIN.

IMPROVEMENT IN WASHING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 211,690, dated January28, 1879 application filed i July 17, 1878.

To all whom it 'may concern.-

Beit known that I, CHARLES M. BARTHOL- OMEW, of Lowell, in the county ofDodge and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Clothes-Pounders; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make anduse it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which formpart of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in clothes-pounders; and itconsists in the arrangement and combination of parts whereby the clampcan be made to adapt itself to all tubs above a certain size, and thepounders are madeadj ustable back and forth upon and detachable from thehandle, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

The accompanying drawings represent my invention.

Figurel is a plan view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective of theclamp. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the tub and clamp appliedthereto. Fig. tis a side elevation of the washer, and Fig. 5 an enlargeddetail view of the same.

a represents the two jaws `which form the clamp bywhich the pounders areconnected to the tub, and which are hinged or jointed togethenat 1g.Upon the upper edges of these jaws are formed the extensions c, betweenwhich'the coiled spring d is placed, for the purpose of forcing thelower ends e tightly together, and thus making them clamp the tubbetween them. By thus placing the spring between the upper ends of thejaws they are made automatic in their action, so that they can beinstantly applied to or removed from any tub above a certain size'.

Upon the outer sides or edges of the outer clamp or jaw are formed thesleeves f, down through which the lower ends of .the bent guide-rod gpass. This rod can be adjusted up and down to any desired extent, andcan be held in any position by means of set-screws passing through thesleeves.

Loosely connected to the rod g is the connecting-rod h, to which theinner end of the handle lis pivoted. Passed over the handle are the twoslides t', which may be fastened at any desired point by set-screws 3.Upon the outer sides of these slides are pivoted the arms n, to theripper ones of which are rigidly secured the caps o, which fit down overthe tops of the atmospheric pounder-shafts p.

To the lower arms are secured the clamps fr, by means of which thepounders are securely held. The pounders consist of long tapering tubes,largest at the tops, and having the funnels s secured to their lowerends. Through the top of each one is made a hole, t, which is controlledby the loose valve o. As soon as the downstroke commences the air closesthe valve, so that no air can escape that way, and hence the compressedair must escape down around the edges of the funnels and rise up throughthe clothes and water. rlhe instant the handle begins to rise the airforces open the valves and rushes in, so that the clothes will not stickto the ends of the pounders unnecessarily.

The handle is pivoted to the connecting-rod h and as the rod has a freelateral and vertical play, and as the handle has a free lateral play onthe end of the rod, the handle can be moved freely from side to side;and as the connecting-rod can be raised freely upward, it will bereadily seen that the handle has'a free universal motion.

As the pounders are pivoted to the handle they will always maintain avertical position, and as they can be adjusted freely back `and forth onthe handle, they can be made to work in any part of the tub.

By means of the arms, the caps, and the clasps, the pounders can bereadily removed and replaced whenever desired.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In a washing-machine, thecombination of the two jaws a, movably connected together, and havingthe spring el placed between their upper ends, with the rod g,connecting-rod h, handle Z, and one or more pounders movable back andforth on the handle, substantially as shown.

2. The combination of the jaws a, provided with the sleeves f, andvertically-adjustable rod g with the connecting-rod h and handle l, havehereunto set niy hand and seal this 6th4 substantially as described. dayAof July, 1878.V V

3. The slides i, provided with pivots, in HA LES M BA TH L MEcombination with the double set of arms n, C R R O O W' [L- SJ caps o,and clamps W', foreonneeting the pound- Witnesses: ers with the handle,substantially as speeied. FRITZ DREWS,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I GEO. W. W. TANNER.

